Staff Morale & HR Policies
May 30, 2023
As organizations resume the full scale of their operations with ongoing economic and audience attendance pressures, the state of staff wellbeing and work-life balance has come back to the fore. Our latest Arts Executive Benchmark asked arts leaders to benchmark themselves about the current state staff morale and turnover rates, and adjoining HR policies and practices to support wellbeing and avoid the risks of burnout.
Highlights from the survey include:
Half of arts leaders reported increased turnover rates at their organizations compared to pre-pandemic years, with development and marketing departments seeing the highest attrition rates.
Organizations are seeing a range of morale levels, with about half reporting that staff morale is not noticeably high or low.
Staff burnout is cause for concern for a majority of arts leaders, with levels of burnout increasing along with seniority of staff members.
Increased communication and transparency is the most common and highest valued practice for avoiding burnout culture.
